Zero punctuation: Best Just Cause 2 review

Posted 21st April 2010, 17:12pm by Nick
Tags: just cause 2, zero punctuation, review

Excuse the language... but it's awesome!

Strategy Informer: Just Cause 2 Preview

Posted 1st March 2010, 20:46pm by Nick
Tags: just cause 2, preview

Strategy Informer have just posted up a new preview about Just Cause 2 today. Here is an extract from the preview:

It's surprising how much of Just Cause 2's scenery is destructible, and although there aren't Mercenaries, Red Faction or Bad Company levels of devastation on show, for a game of JC2's sheer scale, there's more than a fair share of stuff to break...

While some locations are somewhat deserted, awaiting later mission objectives to kick in before activity commences, there's still plenty to discover, whether it's the Cape Carnival rocket launchpad or a party boat suspended from two rather suggestive-looking Zeppelins, hundreds of feet above the sea. Combine the main story-driven components, the numerous collectibles, hundreds of vehicles and literally thousands of opportunities to wreak chaos destroying Panau's propaganda and military presence, and you have an open-world game that has enormous potential, which shouldn't be underestimated.

If you would like to check out the rest of the preview, head on over to Strategy Informer.

Link: Strategy Informer: Just Cause 2 Preview

Full four-page review in GamesMaster out today!

Posted 27th February 2010, 04:58am by Nick
Tags: just cause 2, magazine, review


That's right! For those of you in the UK at least, you should definitely consider heading to your local shops and buying yourself the GamesMaster magazine.

It features a full four-page review of Just Cause 2.

The magazine gives Just Cause 2 a very respectable 86% in it's review.

We don't ever think we've encountered a free-roamer with quite so sprawling a map or quite so many possible, deliciously destructive distractions, it reports. You'll want to invest 30 to 40 hours into this baby.

Criticisms include the lack of a 'decent cover system' and the 'randomness' of the ammo.

Just Cause 2 is also being featured in a number of other magazines such as OXM, and if it isn't out already... there should be a few magazines featuring Just Cause 2 available in your language too!

[via: Computer and Videogames]

GamesRadar: Just cause 2 hands-on

Posted 27th February 2010, 04:47am by Nick
Tags: just cause 2, hands on, preview

GamesRadar have just posted up another hands-on preview of Just Cause 2.

This could be just the explosion-filled ticket many have been itching for, and could become the most fun we’ve ever had playing games.

Check out the full preview:

Link: GamesRadar: Just cause 2 hands-on

An interview with Mike Oldman: Just Cause 2 Demo information and more...

Posted 25th February 2010, 23:00pm by Nick | Discuss in the Forums
Tags: just cause 2, demo, review, mycoldman, interview

As you know, the only thing we have heard about the Just Cause 2 demo is that it's coming. All that is about to change... check out the interview I had with Mike Oldman (aka Mycoldman, Community Manager Square Enix London Studios) where we talk briefly about the demo, what to expect and some other things related to the game itself.

So Mike, can you give us any information about the Just Cause 2 demo? What kind of things will you be able to do?

The demo will give you a pretty good snapshot of what the final game has to offer. So in terms of Rico's abilities and the crazy stunts he can pull off - it's all in there. There's also one whole multi-stage faction mission for you to try, a race challenge and ample opportunities to cause chaos at pretty much every turn. There's a good mix of vehicles, everything from tuk tuks to planes, helicopters to jeeps, military and civilian. We really want you to play it again and again, to try out as much as you can. If you don't fancy tackling the mission for example, don't. See if we care. You'll easily find something else to keep you occupied.

That sounds pretty cool! So is it true that the demo will literally be one big sandbox? How much freedom do we get in terms of exploration?

That's exactly right. One BIG sandbox. It's approximately 35 square miles of sandy desert, featuring towns and settlements, military bases, runways (and planes) and plenty more. In terms of freedom, it's really up to you, but we've certainly included more than enough to play with.

And how does the Just Cause 2 demo compare to the full game?

As I said before all of Rico's abilities are in there, so you can try out pretty much anything you want. The main difference is the real game will feature more of everything - different climate zones, weather and times of day, a load more vehicles, missions and of course... water.

It's recently been mentioned that there will be a few surprises for PC users. Would you be able to tell us more about that?

I can't just yet I'm afraid. But very soon I promise! What I can say is what I've said before, Just Cause 2 on the PC is absolutely not a port of the console version - and you'll see a whole bunch of enhancements that reflect that. We're DX10 all the way, using all we can to get the most out of the game on higher spec systems. Though you can of course use an Xbox pad, I actually really like playing the game with mouse and keyboard.

Ok, sounds promising. Let's move onto DLC. How will the DLC work in terms of pre-ordering it from Steam or someone buying the Limited Edition in the shops and redeeming them?

We've not announced any pre-order incentives yet for those purchasing the game through Steam, but if you buy a boxed copy from the shops you'll obviously get whichever pre-order bonus that retailer has. All DLC will be redeemable via Steam for PC users.

While we're on the subject of DLC, can you tell us anything about the sort of items we can expect to see in future or is it still pretty hush hush?

Nope. But those outside of North America looking at the Monster Truck with green eyes needn't worry. It'll be available everywhere at some point. It's important to us to keep the playing field level, so all DLC released will ultimately be available in all territories for purchase later down the line.

So, Basejumping. What is the current base jumping record in the office and how was it achieved?

Huge. It's mine, and if I told you how I did it you'd just go and beat it wouldn't you? I think I’ll just let you find out on JustCause.com when the game stats and leaderboards section unlock at launch.

Haha. So, what’s the coolest thing you’ve ever done in Just Cause 2?

That's a tough one as something cool happens every time you play! I've certainly had some pretty narrow escapes over time, that's for sure. There's something about playing as Rico (with his grapple and parachute) that makes you want to see how far you can push your luck. That's how I tend to play... dangerously. :)

Top tip: Look out for stray gas canisters. You really don't want to get hit by one from a distance in the thick of a firefight.

Do you not get sick of playing Just Cause 2 hours on end? How many hours have you played it now?

Not at all. For me, most of the fun of Just Cause 2 is just being in the world. I know we say so much about how it's one giant playground, but it's true, there's always so much to be done even (and sometimes especially) if you're not completing missions -be that searching out all of the collectibles, completing settlements or just mindlessly racing sports cars down the sides of mountains. It's stunning to look at too, so it's a nice place to relax in between creating chaos. Much like in real life, no two sunsets are ever quite the same and it's easy to get lost in the views Panau has to offer. It's difficult to put an exact figure on how many hours i've spent playing the game now throughout development, but I'd guess at easily somewhere in the region of 400.

Wow! That's impressive! So with the release being so close to easter, what kind of Easter eggs can we expect to find?

I'm not going to ruin any of these for you, but needless to say there are plenty of little secrets hidden around the island. Some useful, some useless, but all good fun. Maybe we'll check in on this a little after launch to see what's been discovered. I'll give a few hints then.

Ok, so last couple of questions then. It’s getting pretty close to release now. What kind of stuff can we expect to see within the next couple of weeks prior to launch?

We've still quite a bit to come before launch. Our recent Anatomy of a Stunt series still has plenty of videos left, getting more and more crazy as they go on. We've also got Vlogs, more podcasts and new community focused functionality hitting JustCause.com

So we've got a lot to look forward to then by the sounds of it!

Oh, and just for the sake of asking it because I know it's on everybody's mind right now, when can we expect the demo??

Hehe. Very soon. (Sorry!!) Before launch for sure.

Well thanks again for your time. It’s been a pleasure speaking with you again.

It was my pleasure!

So there we have it then guys, that's all the information they can give us right now. Perhaps we'll hear more about the demo tomorrow, though by the sound of it, the demo may not be out for some time yet.

I have had a chance to play a very early build of the demo for a bit, and I must say it is so much fun. The demo is virtually a full game in itself, so that should give you an idea of what the full game will be like. It's definitely a great way to experience Just Cause 2 in bitesize, manageable portions, and as the theory goes, the smaller the portions, the more you can eat! That's certainly true in this case!

VideoGamer: Their Just Cause 2 Hands-on Preview

Posted 25th February 2010, 00:34am by Nick | Discuss in the Forums
Tags: just cause 2, preview, xbox 360

I've been on the prowl again for some of the better previews coming from the press, and I have found a pretty good one written by VideoGamer.com.

I actually quite enjoyed reading this review as it is more laid back in the style of writing and much more fun to read. It also gives Just Cause 2 a pretty good preview too.

Here are some extracts from the preview:

There are scores of bad guys baying for blood. One of the buggers has a grenade - he's an explosives expert, and harder to kill than the others. What do we do? We land the grapple hook in the git's chest. He throws a grenade. Somehow - and this is purely accidental, although we'd love to say it's down to pure skill - we manage to tether the grenade spammer to his own grenade. He flies forward, landing face first right next to the small explosive device. We run for cover. Boom! Cue spraying blood and our eyes popping out of our head.

Indeed, it only gets better...

Now we're in the chopper; hold the right trigger to ascend, left trigger to descend. RB and LB fires a mini-gun. Panau is now our bitch, and this gunship is our whip. Cue ten explosions in 20 seconds and our eyes popping out of our head.

They then go on to explain what the quickest way is to get out of a deep hole in the ground. Have you ever seen that bit in the World is not Enough where the underground plutonium bunker is about to blow up and James Bond finds a way out by shooting the gas canister, firing him straight back up to ground level? Yep, you guessed it...

Now, it's going to blow. We need to get out of there quick. We look up - it's going to take too long to grapple our way to the top. What do we do? Gas canisters - every game has them - are propped up against a wall. We grapple one, landing feet first on the "nose" of the cylinder. Then, we land a single bullet. As the gas escapes, we brace ourselves. Boom! The canister fires up into the air like a rocket heading into space, and we're riding it like a heavily-armed space monkey. We reach the top, leap off the canister, fire the grapple hook into the nearest wall, and feel the tower explode behind our back. Cue fist pumping and our eyes popping out of our head.

You can read the full preview here:

VideoGamer.com: Just Cause 2 Hands-on Preview

Why you should pre-order Just Cause 2 today

Posted 21st February 2010, 14:00pm by Nick | Discuss in the Forums
Tags: just cause 2, pre order, dlc, trailer, review

If you've been wondering whether or not to pre-order the game yet, then you should definitely do so today. Let me tell you why.

The game is possibly hands down, one of the most advanced games of it's time, and a serious improvement from the previous Just Cause game. Just Cause 2 is so close to it's release date now, I've even added a countdown to the website to help get that heart of yours beating faster in anticipation.

If you need some help with your decision making, check out the Media section for all the latest trailers, including the fantastic pre-order DLC trailer which shows off all the awesome DLC items you get with the Limited Edition.

You may also want to take a look at my Experiencing Just Cause 2 article to see what I myself thought of the game, or perhaps check out some of the many Just Cause 2 Reviews that have been written.

Furthermore, you may not realise this, but pre-ordering your copy of Just Cause 2 is extremely important to the future development of the Just Cause series. So, if you guys want to see some serious future DLC items, or even Just Cause 3 somewhere down the pipeline, you should definitely pre-order today!

So there we have it, that should help you in your decision.

New preview on Total Video Games

Posted 19th February 2010, 23:04pm by Nick | Discuss in the Forums
Tags: just cause 2, review

The guys over at totalvideogames.com have just written up a preview about Just Cause 2. They make a few new and interesting points and even compare the physics to that of GTA, stating it puts the flimsy physics of most other sandbox games to shame.

Just Cause 2 certainly appears to have filled all the gaps left in the original, offering players plenty to do, a range of factions to interact with, and innumerable gameplay opportunities to stretch Avalanche's open-world to its limits. The visuals are top-notch for the genre as well, making Just Cause 2 a strong nominee for best-of-the-rest in the sandbox gaming stakes.

Sadly it seems that every preview and review I've seen in the past couple of weeks have used the same screenshots... hmmm, I think we'll need some more!

Read the full preview: http://www.totalvideogames.com/Just-Cause-2/preview-15002.html

New Just Cause 2 hands-on by The Guardian + A naughty preview!

Posted 18th February 2010, 18:11pm by Nick | Discuss in the Forums
Tags: just cause 2, review, leak

UK newspaper, The Guardian, have had their own hands-on experience with Just Cause 2.

They have mentioned the usual gameplay experience and YouTube functionality, but they have also touched briefly on the subject of the PC version.

PC owners will be given their own special treat too, although they'll have to keep their ears open as Square Enix is remaining tight-lipped for now as to what the surprise is.

View article: The Guardian

In other news, French game bloggers gameblog.fr just received a preview version of Just Cause 2 and streamed it live on the internet. It is not known whether they were allowed to stream it live in the first place, but it wasn't long before it was pulled from the internet. Don't worry, you didn't miss very much as it was just the Blaine mission we've seen in one of the developer walkthroughs, and the streaming quality wasn't at all great either, updating every 6 seconds, and believe me, a lot can happen in those 6 seconds!

Credit goes to Captain-Russel over at the Just Cause 2 official forums for finding it.

The Digital Cowboys: a very special podcast

Posted 6th February 2010, 23:26pm by Nick | Discuss in the Forums
Tags: just cause 2, podcast, review, mycoldman



Nothing Just Cause 2 related goes unnoticed, and these guys are definitely worth a big shout out! I would like to introduce Alex from The Digital Cowboys, who was also lucky enough to be invited down to the studio as well as myself and experience Just Cause 2 (Alex was the guy sitting next to me).

The Digital Cowboys have just released a very special podcast dedicated to Just Cause 2 with a very special guest, Mike Oldman, Community Manager at Square Enix London Studios. This is possibly the most in-depth Just Cause 2 podcast I have heard, lasting well over an hour.

Some of the things mentioned are the youtube functionality exclusive to the PS3 (and why), being an unlikely hero, upcoming stunt videos (that's right, there are a few on the way), Agency and Faction Missions (they're not just side missions this time), the black market, Gamestats and unique website milestones, Easter eggs and a whole lot more.

Check out: The Digital Cowboys